Being transported to a world where reality blurs, and the impossible becomes possible.
That's the magic of VR that has kept me captivated for over six years, where I
reviewed pretty much every headset out there. But as time went by, I got a bit tired from
reviewing new hardware. I've played so much, and there wasn't enough content to
make me put on my headset every day anymore. Sony has somewhat surprisingly changed that with
the PlayStation VR2. They've taken their first VR headset and kicked it up several notches. The
PSVR 2 sets a new standard for consumer headsets by bringing unique features like eye-tracking,
HDR, and new haptic capabilities. My preorder arrived last week, and from
the moment I put it on, I felt whisked away again to a new world of vivid colors, stunning graphics,
and action that's more immersive than ever. BUT it isn't without compromises. I've been
playing every day for this PSVR2 review, and I feel ready now to
tell you how much this matters and to see if it's worth your hard-earned dollars.
Let's dive deep into it; join me beyond reality.
So it came in a simple box. Open a lid, a second lid. There's the headset, the controllers,
stereo in-ear headphones with additional earpieces, and USB cables.
As easy as it was to unbox it, so was the setup.
All you need to do is connect the PSVR2 to your PS5 using the proprietary cable
and turn it on. A nice touch is that it vibrates to let you know it's alive.
Next, your PS5 will guide you through the steps, from mounting the earbuds and pairing the Sense
Controllers to adjusting the lenses to match your eyes using eye-tracking technology.
You'll experience the See Through view, a.k.a. the passthrough. It's black and white and not
entirely depth-correct, but it's much higher quality than the Quest 2's passthrough.
The eye tracking will also be calibrated, and the headset will scan your room for obstacles to
create a boundary. This is a virtual wall to help you avoid crashing into expensive furniture.
Finally, you'll see a sleek PlayStation VR logo animation, but unfortunately,
no immersive tutorial. I think that's a missed opportunity to showcase the tech.
But hey, I already had Horizon Call of the Mountain installed, one of my favorite franchises,
so the first thing I did was play that game. The 4K HDR OLED screens really stood out to me
here. The display offers 2000 x 2040 pixels per eye at 90 and 120 Hz refresh rates.
It has fantastic vibrant colors and black levels. Scenes are pitch dark and bright
where they should be. I especially noticed this looking at the scenery in Horizon. It was so
beautiful that my mouth fell open many times. But as a reviewer, my job is to look for flaws.
Before we get into that, it's worth mentioning that you might not notice these while playing
games because you'll simply forget about them. However, some people might be more sensitive
to this, so let's talk about them after you subscribe so I can keep making these videos :D
Sony uses a type of OLED to keep the headset more affordable, but it comes with
known trade-offs. It suffers more from screen door effect and mura, but you get much better
colors and HDR capabilities in return. That's precisely what you'll get with the PSVR2.
If you wear the headset, you can see some kind of constant graininess following your
eyes. I can't quite pinpoint if that's screen door effect or mura; maybe it's a
combination. The good news is that it's lighter than the screen door effect on first-generation
headsets. However, in some scenarios, it can be very visible and distracting.
Unfortunately, you can't do much about it except focus on the gameplay,
which helps you forget it. Plus, there's a lot to like about the headset that makes up for it,
which I'll get into after another trade-off. Motion blur when you move your head. It's hard
to pinpoint what causes this without Sony explaining, but it's probably a combination
of high persistence and reprojection. Persistence is how long a pixel remains
lit. In VR, the lower, the better, which means less motion blur during head movement.
The PSVR2 OLEDs seem to have higher persistence than headsets with LCDs. This is why many headsets
went for LCD like Valve did. BUT KEEP IN MIND, those screens have their own disadvantages.
Then reprojection can happen when the game needs to fill in frames to keep hitting the
high framerate. In Horizon, you can see this clearly. But in some other games,
it's less visible. So perhaps that's not the PSVR2 fault, and these games could be optimized more.
Some of you might be more sensitive to this and perhaps even get motion sick.
If that's the case for you, it helps to set the headset's brightness lower.
This is a bit of a shame because you can see how sharp everything looks in the PSVR2
when you're not moving your head. Plus, when the graphics are this good,
with the vibrant colors and deeper blacks. F*** me. It makes the experience so good
that I tend to forget about these things. So for me, not a dealbreaker. Let me know in
the comments below if it is for you and why. In combination with the display, the headset uses
fresnel lenses. It's a massive step up from the PSVR1 lenses but not as good as the new pancake
lenses you see in other headsets. The way fresnel lenses are shaped makes them more subject to glare
and god rays in highly contrasted scenes, but to my surprise, it's almost not noticeable here.
And if you remember my first impressions at CES, I mentioned I saw chromatic aberration.
I found that's because I didn't have the headset perfectly placed in the sweet spot, the center of
the lenses where everything is sharp. That sweet spot is small, but you CAN get
your eyes there. Luckily, Sony made it easy with their eye-tracked calibration,
which you can conveniently turn on anytime. After a while, I got accustomed to this and could even
get in the sweet spot without the calibration. I did find that the strap holds the headset back a
little here. The design isn't much different from the first PSVR;
it still uses a Halo design. Press the button to loosen it, and use the dial to tighten it.
There's a button at the front for a generous eye-relief adjustment. This is nice if you want
to peak at the real world quickly or if you want to fit glasses, which is definitely possible.
Comfort is personal, so don't take this too strictly, but I found that
I needed to make it quite tight to get my eyes in the sweet spot. After a while,
it presses heavily against my forehead, so I need to loosen it to keep playing and sacrifice some
clarity. I hope you're luckier than me. The face cushion feels nice and smartly
conforms to your face, so there is no light bleed. Immersing you fully.
At first, I was concerned about returning to a wired setup as a frequent user of wireless
headsets. However, my experience with PCVR has taught me how to avoid the cable,
and it was like muscle memory, so it didn't bother me at all and I think anyone can learn that.
Sony says the field of view is approximately 110 degrees, but since you can put the lenses very
close to your face, it looks much wider than most current headsets like Quest 2. But the headset
might touch your nose if you put it too close. Now here comes some stuff that I really like
about the headset. The PSVR 2 is the first consumer headset with eye-tracking and new
haptic capabilities. This makes it possible to do fun things.
For example, in Horizon, eye tracking improves your accuracy with auto-aim
without you realizing it. It makes you feel incredibly awesome with every shot.
In horror games, it could be used to detect where you're looking (scary but cool).
It's also used to increase performance. Developers use eye tracking with foveated
rendering to detect where you're looking so that area is rendered sharp, but everything around it
won't be fully rendered. This leaves room for devs to make the graphics look even better.
And this is all so fast and responsive that you won't even notice it working in-game.
The PSVR2 headset has a second feature that isn't for VR gaming. Sony added a Cinematic Mode,
which provides a virtual screen to view the PS5 menu and non-VR games and media.
It's only 1080p, not 4K, and the mura can be more distracting here, but it's a great option
for watching Netflix or playing flatscreen games while someone else is hogging the TV
since you can use the headset separately. In case you're wondering, it's not possible to
use it as a PC VR headset at the moment, but there are efforts to make this work.
They say chances are slim, so don't wait for this, but one can hope, right?
Now get this - the PSVR2's new haptics aren't just limited to the controllers. Sony added
vibrational feedback to the headset too. And it's a small detail but adds so much to the
immersion. I'll never forget the moment in Horizon when a Stormbird flew over me, and
I felt the rumble on my head - I was in awe. One of the standout parts of the PSVR2 are the new
Sense controllers. They feel great in my hands, and the buttons are just like the PS5 controllers,
so they're easy to navigate. I was worried that the tracking rings would get in the way during
intense moments, but I had no issues, even when reloading guns mid-battle.
The controllers have Capacitive Sensors, which allow for hand
gestures to be picked up by developers. It's a bit clunky, but it can be fun.
And you know those adaptive triggers we all love on the PS5 controllers? Well,
they're here too. With the ability to vary the resistance of each trigger pull, you can now feel
the difference between pulling back a bowstring or firing different guns, and it feels more real in
VR. Pavlov makes excellent use of it already. The controllers also have a simple yet efficient
strap that can be tightened with one hand, a nice detail that makes me wonder why other VR
straps don't have this. I also love rolling them up on my arms to free my hands.
My biggest gripe with them is the built-in rechargeable batteries; the battery life is
only around 3 to 4 hours, which isn't great. But the dock I got for it helps, as it's less
work keeping them charged. One of the most significant
upgrades to the PSVR2 is the inside-out tracking, meaning you no longer need extra accessories for
tracking. The cameras on the headset now track both itself and the controllers,
and I must say, it works like a charm. It tracks well, even in low light and with bright
recording lights in the room. Sure, there are some dead spots, but Sony has done an excellent
job of predicting where your controllers are even when out of range and if it does lose tracking?
It recovers fast. I'm impressed.
However, like any headset with inside-out tracking, it can depend on your room. Like
I occasionally lost headset tracking when I was facing my TV. I guess due to reflection,
but Sony has conveniently added a "Tracking Support" feature that
places a frame on your TV to improve tracking in challenging conditions. And that helped.
Overall, the tracking on the PSVR2 is excellent and will only get better with
improved prediction software. I plan to make a video with tips for tracking. So don't forget
to on notifications to not miss out! Let's talk about audio. The PSVR2 headset
doesn't have built-in speakers, but it comes with earbuds that provide decent audio quality
and noise isolation, enough to immerse you in the game. Surprisingly, I found myself using them more
often as it's easier to put them in than to plug in headphones over the headset's strap. However,
if you're an audiophile, you can use your own 3.5mm headphones. While I enjoy the earbuds,
a third-party audio solution fixed on the strap would be nice, like what we had on PSVR1.
Judge for yourself what the PSVR2 microphone sounds like.
[Mic segment] I think the PSVR2 is a balance
between visual quality, freedom of movement, and affordability. It has its flaws, but it's a great
overall experience, which makes up for a lot. So is the PSVR2 worth it? I'd say yes,
a hundred percent, especially if you're new or coming from older headsets like the
first PSVR. I recommend trying the headset out for at least a couple of days to see
if you can get used to the drawbacks. It's not gonna be for everyone. If you're
a Quest user, you might not find much value right now because the games are
pretty much the same, at least for now. The device has not even reached its full
potential yet, so it needs some time. I personally can't wait to see what else is
coming like, for example, eye-tracking used in social VR games for a better
sense of presence. In any case, I bought this headset, and I'm definitely keeping it.
If you want tips on what games to start out with, check out this video about the 10 best
launch games to play right now. Thanks for watching! Leave
me a like if you enjoyed it! Special thanks to my Champs and VR on.